Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Saturday, December 5, 2009

James and I went to a birthday party today at the T-Rex Cafe and had a lovely time. We decided to work on finishing up our Christmas lists and hit the stores.

He got lost at the PX.

I about flipped my lid! Thank goodness our PX is small! He wanted to go look at the toys (AGAIN) and rounded the corner, then disappeared! I ran back and forth across the px, after checking the toys and Santa, yelling his name. People kept saying I just missed him! I finally heard "Mom! Mom! Moooooooooom?" from between the racks in the Men's Dept 1/2 way across the store! What ever possessed him to go THERE I don't know.... I was getting ready to go to Customer Service to have them shut the gate across the front!

Needless to say, he had to ride in the cart for the rest of the time We had a discussion about how if that happens again, that he needs to go to the cash registers and tell them he's lost. And we'll be having that discussion every time we go into a store for quite a while.

Monday, November 16, 2009

I'm sorry about that. James and I spent most of our summer at the pool (thank you free passes for spouses of deployed soldiers). And really, besides that and the implosion of my laptop, I have no REAL excuse for not blogging. The last month or 2 have been personally challenging and I just haven't had the energy, honestly, to put it all out there.

But tonight, I learned that my cousin and his wife are expecting #3 (I read it on THEIR blog! lol) and it made me so happy to read their news. And then I realized, that I have no idea when I would have heard about it, had it not been for the internet.... which led me to the thought that I need to share more of our lives with you, our friends and family, who may not get the updates and stories through any "regular" channels.

Mea Culpa... Mea Culpa.... I will try to do better in the future. In the coming posts, I will attempt to fill you in on the past few months of swimming, first days of school, birthdays, ect.... and I will do my best to torture you with my horrible grammar, poor sentence structure and stream-of-consciousness writing on a more consistent basis! lol

Friday, June 12, 2009

A family that we have gotten really close to in the last 9 months or so is moving tomorrow. Their son is the same age as James and was in his preschool class and the mom quickly became one of my closest friends.

We had them over for a final time tonight and it was really hard for all of us to say goodbye.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. I had a big post of tons of little things typed out on Sunday and forgot to post it! lol So here it is!

Friday:

We went with some friends to Science City in Kansas City and had a lot of fun. We had a picnic lunch on the bridge over the tracks and got to watch the trains. The kids loved it!

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Saturday:

We went to the pool today. Our pool here has added a new splash park and James loves it!

James and I got tooooooo much sun at the pool today! lol I didn't realize his sunblock was expired! And #231 of the reasons it's crappy that your hubby is deployed is that it's REALLY hard to put sunblock on your OWN back! OUCH!

I didn't realize how bad James was until his bath after dinner!! Oops! He looks like the salt water end of a surf and turf meal. He was NOT happy with all the aloe spray and slathering I did to him in the bathroom and refused any stories. I think the pool/sun/fun combo really did him in! lol. Mommy LIKES the pool!

It was nice that we saw many people we knew, so there was always someone to sit and talk with while James played. Apparently we don't have the "right" toys to play with though... so I guess it's a trip to the store in the morning!

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Sunday:

James and I just did our bit for the economy!! lol We just came back from a stint in consumerism! I got him some of those rockets that you throw under water and a kickboard. I also got us some snacks for the pool. I've tossed some dinner in my tiny crockpot, so we can stay at the pool as long as we want.

Oh... and on the way back from the store, I called him a booger.... and then he said "I'm not a booger.... I'm a booger EATER!! hahahahaha!!"

~insert eyeroll here~

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Well POOP!! Literally! Someone pooped in the pool so they made everyone leave. I would have been really mad if I had paid to get in! lol

I guess it was a good thing that we left though.... James has managed to do a maximum amount of damage to himself in a minimum amount of time! lol

He:

1) got punched in the eye 2) used his face to skid across the concrete 3) got a bloody nose 4) was playing on the monkey bars at the playground and missed, landing on his back and side. It was a 5 ft drop.

All in 3 hours.... Oy that child!

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James got tired... but not tired enough. He took a nap on the floor from 5:30-7:30 pm. Bedtime is at 8:15.... I am in TROUBLE!!!

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James is showing me all the things he can do with his feet.

James: I can hop on on foot on one foot. I can hop on 2 feet with both feet. I can walk with both feet. and I can RUN with 2 feet!

We stood in the kitchen and ate the strawberries right out of the bowl (after rinsing them of course! lol) I can't tell you how good and sweet our organically homegrown, pesticide free, chucked the dried out horse manure in the bottom of the hole before we planted them in our home made planter, sun-ripened strawberries tasted.... sooooooooooooooo MUCH better than store-bought ones!

This is one of those "hidden needs" that often go overlooked in the larger picture of war. Most Soldiers do not wake in a war zone thinking, "Today is the day that I'm going to be wounded." The reality is that more than 4,924 Americans have died in the wars, but that is only part of the story. Reports vary, but estimates say more than 31,000 American service members have been wounded since 9/11. These brave men and women need us as much as we need them. Please click below and find out how you can help give our Wounded Warriors comfort and dignity in their time of need.

http://www.operationundergarment.com/

From the website:

When soldiers are injured or sick they are taken to field hospitals in Iraq and are given the best medical care. Quite often their clothes are cut off, burned or soiled and they are disposed of leaving the soldiers in a hospital gown or briefs and just a blanket. These soldiers are sometimes flown to a hospital in Germany wearing only underwear and wrapped in a blanket.

Others are transported in just hospital gowns. Likewise in Germany they do not have much in the way of clothing while in the hospital. The Department of Defense has a great program in place to provide soldiers with clothing once they are released from the hospital in Germany. During their stay in the hospital system they lack the creature comforts we feel they deserve.

We are collecting NEW AND UNUSED underwear, t-shirts, socks, slippers, sweat pants and pajamas to be issued at the hospitals to the injured soldiers. This is a problem we can solve very quickly. Please join us in supporting our wounded and sick soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen by starting a collection box. The soldiers receive excellent medical care and their basic needs are met. Let us come together and help them with comfort.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Today was James's last day of 3 Day preschool. We really love his teachers. Ms. Brigitta, Ms. Mary, Ms. Sara, and Ms. Marty (who already left while we were gone on vacation) have been his teachers for the past 2 years of pre-school. He will be in a different class next fall, but will see them for Pre-school Day Camp this summer and I wanted to get them a nice (inexpensive) gift to show them how much we have appreciated having them in our lives.

After I dealt with some things @ James's school, went to the grocery store, and ran some unavoidable errands, I had 1 1/2 hours to go out and get the gifts (I know, I know... I should have gotten these earlier... but, HEY, I've been BUSY!!). I had a $15 Bath & Bodyworks gift card and and a plan. The plan was to get them all a small hand care kit and a gift card to the bookstore.

So I took a little time to make a card to go on the front of the gift bags that said, "I've got to hand it to you... You're a great teacher in my book" (Corny, I know), thinking I was just going to run in and out of the strip mall (since I knew EXACTLY what I wanted) and be able to make it back for the ice cream party. This, unfortunately, meant that I didn't leave the house until after 12 (party was at 1 and the strip mall is 15 mins away). No problem, right?

WRONG!

I got to the strip mall ran in the front door and over to B&BW.... except..... there is NO BB&W THERE!! Whaaaaa?? So, I'm like.... Ok... I'll just get them a bigger gift card to the bookstore.... no problem, right?

WRONG!

I run over to the bookstore.... except..... there is NO BOOKSTORE THERE!!

CRAP!!

I dash back to the car and make an emergency call to my friend Tracy (who is the goddess of cheap gifts that don't seem to be), hoping for some inspiration.... but discover that she's already left to go to the Dr's office.

DOUBLE CRAP!!

Ok.... I take a few deep breaths and "dukes of hazzard" it over to Walmart in desperation. And they must have released all the slow, old people out of the doors for some perverted geriatric race as I got there, because I had to sit and wait by the front doors for all of them to get the heck out of my way.

So I *finally* get into the store and am racing around to find *some* sort of hand cream/care kit and photobook to go with the cute bags I wasted time on earlier. I couldn't find anything I liked, so I ended picking up a foot care thing.... which of course meant I couldn't use my bags.... and I think, WHAT am I going to do now? I decided to head over to the accessory dept to see if they had any cheap, reuseable bags I could throw this stuff in, because, seriously, what teacher doesn't need another bag, right?

When I got over there I found the CUTEST big canvas totes with an american flag in the shape of the USA on them and red or navy bottoms/straps! For $3 each!!!! PERFECTION!! Plan B (or is it Plan W by now??) has gone into effect! I drop the footcare stuff, snag 3 bags and run over to the summer dept to look for some sort of water bottle. They had 3 metal reuseable water bottles for $4 each... add a $1.97 spool of ribbon to it and I was out of there (with *green* gifts... are you proud of me Sandy?? lol) for $28 for 3 teachers. Not bad.... not great... but not bad. So folded the bags, rolled them around the water bottles (with the flag showing), and tied it all off with the red/white/blue ribbon and called it a day.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

As you know, this has been one heck of a week for our little family, as a result, the little things that I would have blogged about in a normal week got pushed to the side. So here are a few tidbits that I'd like to share.

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I surprised Hubby with his "coming home" present a year early, since a friend of mine was selling it and I wanted to make sure it was exactly what he wanted. It was and he was THRILLED beyond belief. I wish I could have truly surprised him with it when he got home, but, eh... you do what you've gotta do, right??

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The 3 days of Spring we get here in Kansas have come and gone, lol... but look what they left behind!

My lovely rose shrub and hosta plant by the front door:

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AND our Strawberries!! WOW!

James and Daddy checking out the Strawberries they planted last year in the planter they made:

Wow, Dad! Look at all the berries!!

Here's one *almost* ready to eat!

Let's not forget the carrots:

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This is first time I've EVER seen James draw a pic of a recognizable person

James: "That's ME! With a lot of HAIR! Ha Ha Ha Ha!"

He kept turning the drawing pad upside down and saying "Look I'm frowning!!" and then right side up and saying "Now I'm smiling!" What a card!:

The 2nd time I've ever seen him draw a recognizable person and the FIRST time he's ever drawn a picture of our family (the "faces" don't have heads around them.... it's just dots for the eyes and nose and a curved line for the smile. The bodies come directly out of the smiles):

Monday, May 18, 2009

Well, dear readers.... here we are, 5 days before Hubby is supposed to ship out to Iraq.... and we STILL don't know whether he's going on Saturday OR if we are going to have to pack up the house and move! ~insert MONDO eyeroll here~

For those of you who haven't been following along, Hubby was given orders to Fort Bliss about a month and a half ago, where he would join a BCT and deploy, necessitating us to move to Texas. THEN he was told that he was hand picked, BY NAME, to join a MTT team and deploy, but we (James and I) could stay here, where we have friends, a home and James's school. For Hubby to be part of this MTT team, his orders to Bliss needed to be deleted, and we've been told for the last 3 or so weeks that this would not be a problem, since he had everything done, all we needed was the General to sign off on the Order Deletion.

That order has been on his desk for 2 weeks and he still hasn't signed it.

We are sitting here, 5 days out and have no idea what's going to happen or where we are going to live this summer.

We found this out last week while we were on vacation (I'll blog about that later, it was sooooooooooooo much fun!), and thank goodness we did! At least, hubby was able to make some phone calls and alert some people to the fact that they might be short for the mission. If we hadn't found out until today (we got home last night late), it would have probably been a done deal that we would be moving.

I am so frustrated, I could scream! I haven't been looking into schools or places to live in Texas, because we thought this was a lock! We would have taken a trip to Texas this past week looking for houses and signing leases, instead of going to Branson, swimming, fishing, going to Silver Dollar City, ect and having fun.

Please keep your fingers crossed that whatever is best for our family, comes to pass (Hey, God.... Yeah... It's me, Sharon.... could you try to have that whole "best thing for the fam" stuff to happen here at Ft.Lv?? Kaithanx!).

So while an army of monkeys typing on typewriters may or may not be able to come up with the complete works of Shakespeare.... apparently, a four year old typing on a laptop CAN come up with some credible Dr. Seuss.

A friend of mine posted this quiz and I thought it would be interesting (and hilarious) to see how James would answer these questions. It took some fits and starts, and we had to have a discussion about how he was supposed to ANSWER the questions, not read them to me to answer! lol I'm thinking about giving him this quiz every year to see how (if) his answers change.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Don't jump up and down on the furniture

2. What makes mom happy? me sitting nice on her lap and me sitting really nicely at my house

3. What makes mom sad? hitting

4. How does your mom make you laugh? me jumping up and down

5. What was your mom like as a child? with a dress on

6. How old is your mom? fifty ten old

7. How tall is your mom? Six thirty tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do? eat

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? stays at my house

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? giving everybody presents

11. What is your mom really good at? talking and you give great hugs

12. What is your mom not very good at? eating

13. What does your mom do for her job? taking care of people and me

14. What is your mom's favorite food? broccoli

15. What makes you proud of your mom? when she turns on the tv

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Fireman Sam, because you have pretty shirts

17. What do you and your mom do together? put together a puzzle and ride in the car

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Yep.... The big guy and I have been hitched for EIGHT whole years! Can you believe it?!? That is 2922 days! 70,128 hours! 4,207,680 minutes! Granted, between deployments, training schools and dh's crazy working hours, we've only spent 3 (counting today, which almost didn't happen) of those anniversaries together, but hey, we've made the most of those 3 anniversaries! lol

We have been through sooooooo much in that time! Since we got married, we have endured my major health crisis, the death of 3 very close and extremely beloved family members, a difficult pregnancy and delivery, the birth of the greatest kid ever, lol, 4 moves - totaling 5500 miles, 2 deployments, the first day of school, potty training, saying goodbye to too many old friends and hello to new ones.

It has been a whirlwind ride and I can't wait to see what's around the next bend!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Sunday, April 5, 2009

As you've learned in my earlier posts, loyal readers, Hubby is being deployed to Iraq. We just found out yesterday that he will be leaving from here before the last week in May. ~insert sad face here~ He's going to try to take 3 or so weeks of leave before he goes and has asked me to come up with some family vacation ideas.

Would you believe that we've never gone on a vacation that didn't involve going to visit family? We didn't even take a honeymoon!! (Ok... ONE night at the Country Inn Suites in Bowling Green, Ky does NOT a honeymoon make). So, believe it or not, my vacation deal finding skillz are quite rusty and I need some help!

Hubby's vacation requests were a)somewhere warm (Kansas still hasn't gotten the memo that it's spring) and b) somewhere fun, lol. I'm tacking on c) somewhere with lots of family fun options that are 4 yr old who doesn't sit still very well appropriate! lol I was thinking maybe somewhere with a beach, as James has never seen the ocean and would go kookoo for all that fun sand!

We are open to anything and anywhere. Some of our ideas were, Hawaii, Virginia Beach and Orlando/Disney.... so advice on those places would be great also.

Way back in the day, I was a wild woman. I could drink anyone under the table and still be able to keep up with the most complicated line dance out there. Today?? 2 jack and diet cokes make me want to spin around and say "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Since I've had James, I haven't been interested in/had the chance to drink on a regular basis. I might have a beverage 2 times a year now.... which makes for a cheap date ;) lol

So I thought I would post some of the random thoughts I had tonight:

the term "swarming leaf gobbler" from James's movie is making me giggle

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I should probably make the pizza BEFORE I start drinking. I forgot to take the pizza off the cardboard when I put it on the pizza pan.... ooops!

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I wonder if you have to take a pregnancy test before you go on the Biggest Loser.

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But then... wouldn't that be sexist unless they made the guys take one too?

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I would totally be Biggest Loser Bob's Fag hag, Not Jillian's though... she's mean and she scares me

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I let James watch a movie while eating dinner. The movie went off and American Idol came on.

Friday, March 27, 2009

James was helping me make dinner tonight. We had assembled everything for the Spanish Chicken & Rice Bake (except putting the chicken on the top) when I heard the Woot-off Wootalyzer go off.... so all the ingredients were abandoned on the counter in my quest for the ever-elusive BOC (for those of you who don't know what this is, you are missing out.... for all of you who DO, you know just how important it is!! ).

While I was busy with the F5 and the BOC, James was "cooking" in the kitchen (in direct line of sight... don't freak on me here). By the time I slunk from my computer, defeated and BOC-less, James had created a bowl full of what looked to be nothing more than salsa and maggot soup.... with a dollop of butter for good measure.

"Can you make it with dinner?" my budding Emeril says to me.

"Suuuuuuuuuure, buddy.... um... it might not come out, just so you know" (there was a LOT of salsa and water)

"OK"

I poured it into an small oven safe dish, stirred in some extra rice, and covered it with foil. I then said a little prayer over it and slid it in the oven next to dinner.

45 minutes later, I pulled it out, took off the foil and fluffed what turned out to be almost perfect spanish rice! Color me shocked! Both of us had a serving with dinner and James proudly proclaimed "I made it my OWN self" and "I made my own recipe! and it was better than Mommy's!"

Gee thanks kid.

James's "I Can't Believe He Made It By Himself" Spanish Rice Recipe

some white rice in a bowla cup of water1/3 jar of salsaa few kernels of corn

Stir and give to MommySneak in a little extra rice, put in an oven safe dish and cover with foilbake at 375 for 45 mins

James was totally stylin' today. He had his new shoes on, khaki cords and a super cute stiped polo shirt.... yeah... MUCH nicer than the usual t-shirt and jeans with the worn knees, lol.

So I go to pick him up at school and find him tucked away in the science center, where he was not alone. He was surrounded by EIGHT girls, and they were all just having the time of their lives! lol One of the dad's quipped "Nice Harem" as he walked by.

I just can't *wait* until he's a teenager! ~insert eyeroll here~

eta: although, he *did* start out the day in Mommy's headband.... so maybe he's caught "the gay" and was giving the girls fashion tips! lol

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

We got a call a week ago last Thursday that our family was going to be PCSed to Fort Bliss, Texas, where Hubby would join a BCT (Brigade Combat Team) attached to a Cavalry Regiment and then be Deployed to Iraq. For those of you that don't know, Fort Bliss is in the VERY west corner of Texas, RIGHT across the Mexican border from Juarez, Mexico... you know.... the place where all those drug wars are going on and the Mexican Military has taken over for the local police?? Yeah... there....

The report date they gave us was June 10th, which means if Hubby wanted to take leave, we would have to be packed up and moving the FIRST WEEK IN MAY! Basically, we would be uprooted to a place that we do not know, have no desire to be and have no support system within less than 11 hours and that Hubby would leave immediately after we got there for 15 months.

I have been freaking out for over a week! lol But I decided that I would put off worrying about it until a) after my trip (which was AWESOME!!), b) until we found out more info about the job that Hubby would have and c) Hubby talked to some people who had already been there and could tell us a little bit about what to expect for housing/schools/services ect.

We were also waiting to hear if Hubby got on the list to be promoted to E-7, and they were supposed to release that info on Friday, but didn't until today.

So Hubby, the King of Timing, called me during James's gymnastics class today to ask me if I would prefer him deploying out of Fort Bliss or Here!

Then my phone went dead!!

Once I re-established a connection with him (and my heart quit pounding), he told me that he'd been offered the chance to deploy with his unit, under a SGT Major that he knows and respects, and that James and I would be able to stay here, in our house and life, while he was gone. And then he asked what I thought. Eventhough it was killing me, I told him to take which ever job was better for his career... that we can handle short-term discomfort to help him achieve our long-term goals. Thankfully, the jobs are equally good for his career. I cried for 15 minutes in the middle of gymnastics class from sheer relief! lol

*phew*

So we are STAYING HERE!! YAY!!

So that's all the news/info I have for now. Oh... except that Hubby did NOT make the list for his 7. But I was so happy for the other news that this is just a small disappointment. I am certain that he will be up for his 7 in the future and that he will get it, so I consider this only a small set back, if it is a set back at all.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Today we met with James's Occupational Therapist. For those of you who may not know/recall, James was in 5 day/week preschool at the beginning of the school year and his teacher thought he might have sensory issues. I thought that was a bunch of hooey, but she kept harping on it day in and day out, so I decided to have him tested through the school.

It turns out that it WAS a bunch of hooey (and thank goodness we got him out of that class that was just too much/old/overwhelming for him and back into the 3 day/week class that he is thriving in now), but James does have some fine motor skill issues with which he needs a bit of extra help.

His OT started the meeting by telling me what a joy it was to work with James! She found him to be very personable, sweet, intelligent, and just a fun, easy child with whom to work. She was impressed with the width and breadth of his vocabulary and his ability and willingness to express himself verbally. She also finds him to be above average in his pattern making and problem solving skills, and was amazed that he could draw 8 out of the 9 "marker" shapes (all of which are necessary for writing letters) that they use for testing children of his age! She said that he was very sociable with her and she enjoyed having conversations with him... "It's like talking to a little man!"

She did discuss with us her concerns over his hand dominance issue. The issue is that he shows no preference at all.... in fact, he shows an equal NON preference for either hand and a reluctance to cross his midline to grasp something. In other words, if James is sitting in front of a piece of paper on the table, you put a pencil on the right hand side of the paper and ask him to pick up the pencil, he will pick up the pencil with his right hand. Similarly, if you put the pencil on the left hand side of the paper, he will pick it up with his left hand. If you put the pencil in the exact middle of the paper, lining up with his body's midline, he will 50/50 pick it up with either the right or the left hand. If you ask him to draw a big cross on that paper, he will draw the down line with which ever hand he has the pencil in and then, instead of crossing his body and drawing a straight line R-L or L-R in one stroke, he will start on the outside of the paper on the side he is holding the pencil, draw to the midline, switch hands and finish the stroke to the outside.

So... while none of this has anything to do with the original reason James was tested (thank goodness.... I think that teacher is full of hooey and just isn't used to teaching *just* 4's, as the 5 day/wk is filled with mostly much older 4's, 5's and young 6's), I'm glad we had him tested, and that the OT has space to work with James, as I never even thought one way or the other about his hand dominance! I can see where this could lead to frustration in Kindy if it had never been caught, thereby possibly souring him towards school at an early age. *phew* Now, if I could only head off the OTHER 436,784,965 reason he may come up with to hate school in the next 20 yrs or so, we might be getting somewhere!! lol

The OT will be coming to his school and pulling him out of class on Fridays for a 1/2 hour to work with her. This is nice because he is already comfortable at school (his *turf* so to speak) which will make less likely that he will be distracted by new surroundings and more able to focus on what he's being taught. The OT is very confident that we will be able to sort out James's hand dominance issues by early fall, even without her working with him over the summer (they only offer the services through the school during the school year... and she sees no reason for "special" work over the summer).

All in all, it was a very good meeting and we left it with a feeling of (not-excessive, imho) parental pride and not a little relief! It is always gratifying to have people affirm you opinions (high though they may be) of your own child, kwim?

"Where are chapters 1-33?" You ask. Well... Prince James came about when *my* little prince was about a yr and a half old. Sometimes stories from books just wouldn't do when James was seriously distressed or overtired and the only way I could get him to calm down/go to bed was to tell him stories about Prince James, Queen Mommy and King Daddy. I always thought I should write them down, but it never seemed to happen. Tonight was the first night I've had to make one up since I started my blog, so I thought "Gee... I need to get this down before I forget it!!" These stories were made up on the fly, so don't start reading it expecting Dickensonian prose, mmmmmmkay? I settled on the arbitrary # of 34, because it felt right, but I have no actual knowledge of the number of stories that have come before... I hope that won't ruin the story for you, lol!

And so we shall begin.....

Prince James and the TummyacheOnce upon a time, in a far away land called Noplacelikehomatopialand (hey give me a break... I TOLD YOU these were made up on the fly!), lived a wonderful young prince named Prince James. He lived in a fantastic castle along with his family, King Daddy, Queen Mommy and Sir Ichtheius Browntail. Prince James loved his home and everyone in it. He loved the gardens where he would play in the summer. He love the stables that housed all the ponies a little prince could ride. He loved the big, clear swimming pond where he spent most of his summer days. He loved the kitchen with all it's warmth and smells.... not to mention all the yummy food he and Queen Mommy would make whenever they wanted.

But most of all, Prince James love his bedroom.

Prince James's bedroom was the most fantastic place in the whole castle! It was lined floor to ceiling with bookcases and toy cupboards. When all the doors to all the bookcases and toy cupboards were closed, the most wonderful of murals was revealed. Even before playing with a single toy, if one stopped long enough, one could get caught for hours gazing at the mystical creatures, revealed one by one behind rocks, trees and in ponds only upon close examination. Prince James had spend many an hour flying with the fairies and conversing with the unicorns after stepping into that mural.

And the toys! Oh my... there had never been such toys!! All made by the local craftsmen and women specifically for Prince James! There were trains and trucks and dinosaurs that made real roaring noises, even a dancing toy mouse that played music! Every toy a young prince's heart could ever desire. Prince James loved his toys and his books and always made sure to take very good care of them, because he wanted to make sure that the people who made them knew he appreciated them. (I never said I was above sticking a moral lesson or 2 into these stories!!)

And at the end of the day, when all the ponies were rode, all the swimming swum, all the smells smelled, all the food eaten, enemies vanquished and fantasies explored, it was time for Prince James to go to bed.

And THAT my friends, was almost as lovely as the whole day put together, for Prince James had, dare I say it?? The most wonderful of beds! It was so big and so tall that Prince James needed a stool just to get in it! The head of the bed sported 3 of the biggest, lightest, fluffiest pillows that had ever been seen. Queen Mommy herself had bargained with the birds to fly up in the sky and fill her pillowcases with clouds (white ones only.... no storm clouds please.... Queen Mommy had had enough of wet beds when potty training Prince James, thankyouverymuch!) The sheets were smooth and crisp and printed with train designs, that, just in the 3 seconds before the person who was lying on them fell asleep, could be seen to move along their printed rails, across sateen countryside. If Prince James listened really hard, just as he was going to sleep, he could just hear the clickety-clack! of the the wheels and the whooooooo-whooooooo of the whistle. He'd been known to hop those trains right into dreamland and stay there all night long! The blankets on his bed were crocheted out of gossamer strands of love, by Dowager Queen Mum Great-Grandma Rose, herself. These types of blankets are the most valued of all as they create a warm, safe cocoon where only the sweetest dreams can be dreamt.

So it was on a night like any other, that Prince James brushed his teeth, listened to stories, kissed Queen Mommy and King Daddy and drifted off to sleep in this slumberiest of shrines. All was quiet in the palace as it denizens were winding down for the night. When suddenly, from the fabulous nursery, came a piercing cry! Queen Mommy, recognizing the cry, rushed up the stairs and straight into Prince James's room.

"Whatever is the matter, sweetheart?" said the Queen.

Prince James could only cry.

"Did you have a bad dream?" asked the queen (though, honestly, she could not imagine such a thing ever happening in such a fantastic bed)

Prince James just shook his head and kept crying.

"Did you bump your head?"

Prince James shook his head again and kept crying.

"Lose your favorite stuffed animal?"

Just a head shake and more tears.

"Do you have a tummy ache?" asked Queen Mommy, who by this time was quite near tears herself.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssss!" wailed Prince James

"Oh, honey! Do you want me to rub your tummy?"

A watery sniff and a little nod later found Queen Mommy ensconced on the bed beside Prince James.

"I'm so sorry your tummy hurts sweetie, what did you have to eat tonight?" Queen Mommy knew what Prince James had for dinner... but sometimes he and King Daddy went down to the royal kitchens for a bedtime snack, and sometimes.... when he was being naughty, Prince James would go get a snack without asking first.

"ummmmmmmmm..... I had green apples.... and bananas.... and a hamburger.... and candy... and soda (at this point the real James piped up "Kids aren't SUPPOSED to drink soda Mommy!! Shhhhhh that's why it's a story buddy! Sometimes people in stories don't do what they ought! Oh, Ok) ... and cookies... and popsicles... and spaghetti... and chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. Then a bologna sandwich.... some cherries... a hotdog with mustard... some tomato soup... a cup or orange juice.. and...."

"Okay buddy!! That's enough! lol" interrupted Queen Mommy "you are making me sick just thinking about it!! No WONDER you have a tummy ache! How did you fit ALL that food in such a little tummy?!?"

Prince James thought about it for a moment and said "I don't know!"

Queen Mommy laughed and said "Well, let's try to not do that again, Ok?"

"Ok Queen Mommy! I love you"

"I love you too, Prince James."

And with that final declaration, Queen Mommy rose from the bed, retucked in all the blankets, dropped one last kiss on her son's forehead and quietly closed the door behind her as Prince James quickly drifted back off.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

James found a piece of plastic pipe (about 1 in diam?) and was playing with it while I was putting stuff in the bread machine. He was in the living room for about a minute and then ran back into the kitchen. He was doing that gulping cry that proceeds a huge screaming crying fit while pointing to his mouth.

So I asked him "Did you bump your mouth?" He nodded and I said, "Well let me see"

Lips.... FineTeeth.... All thereTounge... OK

By this time he was super upset and just wailing without making a sound and I just couldn't see ANYTHING that would make him act like that! So I checked again....

So I had him tip his head back.... he had gouged a bloody flap in the roof of his mouth!! By this time he was screaming to beat the band! I let him have a few sips of water and then I squirted warm salt water over the wound (He did NOT care for that!! Let me tell you!! I managed to talk him into letting me do that again. Then I made him swish with cool water to get all the blood out of his mouth.

He's now laying on his couch, watching Scooby Doo to make him feel better.

He just turned to me and said "I just feel like there's a hole in my mouth"

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Boy with hair in his eyes + Cheap Mommy who hasn't wanted to drag the kid to the one place 1/2 hour away that the child will sit nicely for a haircut and pay their outrageous prices + one stray red elastic spied under the loveseat = Ingenious solution (that we won't be mentioning to hubby, got it??)

Toss in some sunglasses for that "Oh so cool, extra toughness" factor!